¹Man, born of woman, is of few days,

And has his fill of trouble.

²He is as a flower that comes out

Then is cut off.

And he flees as a shadow

And does not stand in place.

³Nevertheless, you open your eyes on such a one

And bring me to judgment with you.

⁴Who can make a clean thing

From an unclean one?

– No-one.

⁵If his days are determined,

If the number of his months is your decision,

If you have appointed his limit,

Then he cannot exceed them.

⁶Regard him with favour,

Rather than being against him,

So that he may rest

– So that he may take pleasure in his day,

As a hired man does.

⁷For a tree has hope,

If it is cut down,

That it may sprout again

And that its sucker will not fail,

⁸Even if its root in the ground has grown old,

And its felled trunk dies on the ground.

⁹From the smell of water it blossoms

And produces a harvest like a new plant.

¹⁰But a man dies and loses vitality;

A human being expires,

Then where is he?

¹¹As the water from the sea recedes,

And a river becomes desolate and dry,

¹²So a man lies down

And does not rise again

Until the heavens are no more.

They do not awaken,

And they do not rise from their sleep.

¹³If only you would hide me in the underworld

And conceal me until your anger abates

And appoint me a time

And then remember me.

¹⁴If a man dies,

Will he live again?

I will wait all the days of my struggle

For my revival to come.

¹⁵You will call,

And I will answer you.

You will yearn for the work of your hands.

¹⁶For now you can count my steps.

Are you not on guard concerning my sin?

¹⁷My transgression is sealed in a bag,

And you have sewn up my iniquity.

¹⁸But even a mountain can fall

And become waste,

And a rock can be removed from its place.

¹⁹Water wears down stones;

You sweep away with a flood the soil of the land,

And you destroy the hope of mortal man.

²⁰You overpower him for perpetuity,

And he passes away.

You change his appearance

And dismiss him.

²¹His sons may acquire honour,

But he would not know,

Or they could be disparaged,

But he would not be aware of their situation.

²²But meanwhile his flesh on him suffers pain,

And his inner self is in mourning.”